Labour MP Jess Phillips, who represents Birmingham Yardley, has told Edinburgh International Book Festival that left-wing men are “the worst, the actual worst” when it comes to being hypocritical about equality.

The politician and anti-sexism campaigner, who has written the book “Everywoman: One Woman’s Truth About Speaking the Truth”, said that while some left-wing men professed to support equality “they don’t think of you on the same level”, according to the Times.

They said supported better female representation but when it came to losing their own jobs, they would say ‘Oh you mean me? But I am so clever.’

Jess Phillips

“When they close their eyes at night and think of amazing people who changed the world, it’s always the same white dude that pops into their head,” she told the festival.

Asked about whether “out and out sexists of the right” were worse than well meaning left she said “The [left-wing men] are the worst, the actual worst. Men said they supported better female representation but when it came to losing their own jobs, they would say ‘Oh you mean me? But I am so clever. I’ve got so much to offer the world.’ They are literally the worst.”

She told i in February: “I worry that like all more hard-left movements that they cannot see intersectionality and what really bothers me is the idea that women and any working class people and BME people, gay people and disabled people – we’re not here to have the Labour party ‘help’ us, you know, use us as a tool to help push forward their agenda. We’re here to take part and have agency to do those things. I don’t want to be just a sort of ‘well we did something good for women’ checkbox for somebody.

“The stuff that Pete and I and Angela Smith did on the family courts is a genuine Labour win. If you want to talk about fighting the Establishment Corbyn – this is the actual Establishment that we are fighting to change for the better of the most needy, vulnerable people in society.”

Wanting equality ‘to puff out their own chest’

Labour MP Jess Philips has written a book entitled ‘Everywoman’

She revisited this issue at the book festival, saying how “cross” she was about it: “Men who want to own your equality and the things you fought for are absolutely fine if they want you to own it as well but when they want it to puff out their own chest, that is really, really, really annoying.”

Jess Phillips criticised Mr Corbyn for “words instead of deeds” earlier in July following a row over the gender pay gap. After Mr Corbyn criticised the BBC for their disparity in pay between the sexes, figures obtained by the Sunday Times suggested Mr Corbyn also employed more men in top paying jobs. At the time Ms Phillips said.: “It looks hypocritical to preach about the importance of equal pay while putting men in senior roles with much higher salaries than the women — a further flaw in his alleged feminism.

“It’s not the first time he has failed to practise what he preaches.

“It is all well and good saying you are committed to these things but you have to show you are committed to them by your actions.”

A spokesperson for Labour said in line with official rules, it will publish staff salaries next year.

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